|
ELMENDORF,
TEXAS
Bexar County, South Texas
29°15'41"N 98°19'50"W (29.261357, -98.330547)
FM 327 at the Southern Pacific Railroad
17 Miles SE of downtown San
Antonio
ZIP code 78112
Area codes 210, 726
Population: 2,150 Est. (2019)
1,488 (2010) 664 (2000) 568 (1990)
Book Hotel Here › San
Antonio Hotels |
 |
History in
a Pecan Shell
The town dates
from 1885 and was named to honor Henry Elmendorf, a former mayor
of San Antonio. Henry
went from politics to entrepreneur and is also credited with opening
the area’s first brick
factory. But the credit for discovering the properties of the clay
belongs to W. F. Saenger.
A post office was granted in 1886, and by 1890 the town had a population
of 50. By 1914 it had nine general stores (which may be a record
for a small town at that time), a cotton gin, hotel, and nearly
300 people.
The local economy
revolved around Star Clay Products, which manufactured bricks for
kilns and fire-proofing.
Comfortable with its 300 residents, the town retained that figure
until the 1950s. It declined to 200 but then expanded to 568 residents
for the 1990 census. In the late 1930s, the town became forever-connected
with a grisly axe-murder in which the woman victim was fed to “pet”
alligators.
|
Elmendorf
First Baptist Church
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, March 2008 |
| "This stone
house is well known in Elmendorf. Built in the 1920s from sandstone
quarried in a nearby field, the house also contains a myriad of other
objects, including discarded brick from the town's brick plant, pieces
of petrified wood, shards of broken pottery and melted pieces of plastic
sewer pipe from the factory in nearby Saspamco." - Terry
Jeanson, March, 2008 |
This piece of
an old, stone railroad marker was also incorporated into the house.
Photo
courtesy Terry
Jeanson, March 2008
See Texas Railroads |
Cistern in front
of the stone house in Elmendorf.
Photo
courtesy Terry
Jeanson, March 2008 |
Cistern date
of construction
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, March 2008 |
Old store in
downtown Elmendorf
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, March 2008 |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
|
|
HOME
